nick bryant, bbc news, christchurch. >> you are watching "bbc world news." silda come -- riots against greek austerity measures in athens. let's return to our top story. evince in libya. several european union countries are contemplating sanctions against the country. the french president has called for the eu to suspend commercial and financial ties with libya. >> the french president, nicolas sarkozy, has called on europe to suspend economic relations with libya well gaddafi stays in charge. it is a measure backed by the u.s. senator john kerry. but the sanctions were fully lifted in 2005. world leaders, including italy and's is silvio berlusconi, rushed to establish relations with colonel gaddafi. many oil companies were joined by investors of bp and other companies that recently committed to exploration deals. those contracts may now be at risk. >> italy can no longer count on libya, at least for the time being, for oil deliveries. and in addition, the libyan central bank which hold a significant share of italy's largest bank is pretty much missing. >> m

nick bryant now reports from.com lyttleton, the epicenter. >> it now looks blissfully bertran kolk -- tranquil, but 3 miles under this mountain range was the epicenter of this quake. it sent a massive boulder hurtling down and crashing through this area and eventually coming to a halt 50 meters down the hill. here, one of the miracles of christ church earthquake. nobody living here was killed. parts of lyttleton are in ruins. many of its businesses will have to be demolished. ratner showed me his wrecked cafÉ. the quake hit during lunchtime on tuesday. it was full of customers. ng!this was just ba and there was a lot of carnage and a screaming going on. get the hell out of here. i did not stick around. my children were at school 100 meters away. i do not think i even turned around. i just went straight to the school. as long as i've got my wife and my children within arm's reach of me, that is all i need. >> the epicenter of the earthquake was actually right below my feet. but for all of the structural damage it has caused what is remarkable is that nobody actually lost their lives in